Peyton Manning has been the Broncos’ starting quarterback for about three weeks, and soon the rest of his teammates will learn what Brandon Stokley has known for years. Manning is no ordinary quarterback and certainly no ordinary teammate.

“He works so hard and prepares so much, so he expects everyone else to do the same thing. I think that’s why he’s made a lot of receivers look so good. They see him putting in the work and want to do the same,” said Stokley, a former Broncos wide receiver who was Manning’s teammate with the Indianapolis Colts from 2003-06.

Here’s a glimpse of what the Broncos can expect with Manning when the 2012 season is underway:

• Tuesdays won’t be off days, at least not for the quarterbacks.

• Position meetings will be intense, with Manning writing down every word said by quarterbacks coach Adam Gase and offensive coordinator Mike McCoy.

• Practices will be fast-paced, from the warm-up period to the cool-down period, and every drill in between.

“If something doesn’t look right in practice, he’ll fix it. While the defense is working through something, we’ll go off to the side and make sure we get it right. Everything needs to be right. It’s never like, ‘It’s OK, we’ll get it done on Sunday,’ ” Stokley said. “Everything down to one-on-ones and seven-on-sevens. You want to win every drill. He’s the ultimate competitor, and that’s why it carries over to games. Obviously he’s very gifted, but the extra work is to make sure there is no gray area come Sunday.”

Denver players can assemble at Dove Valley team headquarters beginning April 16 for the official start of the offseason program. They will go through conditioning drills under the supervision of strength coaches, and, for the first time, Manning can throw to receivers on the Broncos’ practice fields. (Manning has gathered a handful of teammates for off-site workouts in recent weeks.)

Denver coaches aren’t allowed on the field until May 1. By then, expect Manning to have worked out a routine with players such as wideouts Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas and tight ends Julius Thomas, Joel Dreessen and Jacob Tamme, the other former Colt signed last month.

“Totally in command”

After a year with very little organized football, the offseason program can’t start soon enough for Manning.

“Nobody loves playing quarterback more than I do,” Manning said recently. “I will argue that against anybody. Nobody loves the job (more) and everything that comes with it, being around the guys, the linemen. I missed being able to do that last year.”

Not that Manning has ever needed help running a practice session.

When Manning arrived at the University of Tennessee in 1994, he stunned Volunteers offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe during August camp. At one point Cutcliffe sent over his third-string freshman quarterback to handle snaps during a blitz pickup drill with the linemen, running backs and tight ends.

“He’s like any other quarterback. He’d rather be over there throwing,” Cutcliffe said. “It’s not punishment, but it’s just one those things where they usually get their rear ends chewed by a line coach or a running backs coach for snapping it too soon. It’s just one of those things, a ritual of breaking a guy in.”

Back in his office that night, Cut- cliffe turned on the tape of the drill. Within minutes, Manning — an 18-year-old freshman who had been on the Tennessee campus for all of two weeks — had taken over the practice session. It was Manning, not the Vols’ assistant coaches, calling out pro- tections and communicating with a host of imaginary teammates.

“You have this vision of Peyton Manning as a Colt, pointing to the “Mike’ linebacker and communicating with these receivers,” Cutcliffe said, referring to Manning’s exhaustive and demonstrative pre-snap ritual. “So these imaginary receivers that aren’t in this drill are being communicated with. He’s totally in command of this drill. It was the best blitz pickup drill I’ve ever seen done, and it was done by a freshman who’s been with us a week and a half. That’s how you make practice like a game.”

Cutcliffe is now the head coach at Duke and remains close to Manning and his family. Cutcliffe coached Manning over the winter as the quarterback began his on-field recovery from the neck surgeries that forced him to miss all of the 2011 season in Indianapolis, and it was Cutcliffe who led the throwing session that Broncos officials watched when they flew to North Carolina when courting Manning last month.

Cutcliffe chatted that day with McCoy and Gase, who are now tasked with building an offense around Manning. Cutcliffe said those men should be prepared to be challenged like they never have before.

“In the meeting room, if you say something, it is written down by him. He takes notes that are unbelievable. If you change something, he’s going to flip through his notes and find what you said earlier. You’re on your toes,” Cutcliffe said. “I’ve heard him described as a sponge, but it’s beyond that, because a sponge can be squeezed and loses its contents. Peyton never loses anything he hears.”

Fantastic football IQ

Across the NFL, coaches typically spend Tuesday creating the game plan for their team’s next game. In Indianapolis, Manning wouldn’t wait until Wednesday morning, when players return to the facility, to get started on the preparation. If Manning was going to be at work on his off day, the other quarterbacks were expected to be there too, said Brock Huard, who spent two seasons with the Colts as Manning’s backup.

“It’s a maniacal approach to the level of detail that separates him from the rest,” Huard said.

Huard, now a sports radio host in Seattle, said it can be humbling to learn alongside Manning in the meeting room, to take repetitions behind him in practice and to watch him from the sideline on game day.

The Broncos have two quarterbacks on their roster behind Manning, newly signed Caleb Hanie, a Colorado State alum who spent four years as a backup with the Chicago Bears, and Adam Weber, who spent 2011 on Denver’s practice squad behind Tim Tebow, Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn. The Broncos could add another QB in the April 26-28 draft.

Huard offered this advice to Hanie, Weber and any other future backups for Manning: Don’t panic.

“Because, especially with a rookie whose first introduction to the NFL and the position is Peyton Manning, don’t freak out because he can master thermodynamics and you’re just stuck in algebra,” Huard said. “There are very few that are at his level with his football IQ. It will be eye-opening and mind-boggling for whoever is in there, and even for the coaches.”

It also will be a challenge for the Broncos’ wide receivers, a group that includes third-year players Decker and Thomas — who will be playing with their third starting quarterback — and Matt Willis, as well as free-agent acquisitions Andre Caldwell and Jason Hill.

Manning will be demanding, and he won’t allow teammates to get away with poor effort or a lack of preparation. If they want to catch passes on Sunday, the receivers will need to earn Manning’s trust from Wednesday to Friday in practice.

“Just get ready to work,” Stokley said “If you put the work in and the effort in, you’ll be able to put up better numbers than you ever imagined.”

It all goes back to practice, Stokley said. He fondly recalled practices in Indianapolis with Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne that were played at game speed. Harrison made it to eight Pro Bowls and Wayne went to five while playing with Manning in Indianapolis.

“He’s a great teammate, and people confuse what a great teammate is,” Cutcliffe said. “A great teammate is very demanding of themselves, but they also hold everyone else accountable, and he will do that. He’s a nice man, but you had best be prepared and you had better be a good communicator, because he’s going to communicate with receivers, particularly, and tight ends and backs, and certainly with his line.

“The relationships he’s built with the guys he’s played with is very strong. It’s one of respect. But they’ll tell you in a hurry that if you’re outside the lines on what’s expected, he’s going to let you know immediately. So it should be the greatest thing that ever happened to a young receiver. If they will listen and they will work, there is another level out there waiting for them.”

CenturyLink, the telecommunications company that ended its sponsorship agreement with Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall because of his protests during the national anthem last year, said it will not terminate its agreement with current client Emmanuel Sanders.